Having trouble in training

Confidence is the key to being a good carhauler, but you can’t get it until you are comfortable with what you are doing. Just like a routine that I am sure they have told you about, it can not be forced but it comes in time. Your routine will likely be different than mine or anyone else’s but when you get it, you will load that rig in half the time.
Patience Grasshopper!
Good luck and I hope you like the job because it is the best gig in trucking, but I am extremely biased!

 

The best tip for me was to steer TOWARDS the problem, backing up. Super simple and accurate.

 

Today not a great day. While I have became pretty good at driving the cars and strapping the tires I’m having trouble remembering the position portion.
When to pin and unpin.

which level goes up and down first.

one of the trainers I can tell is getting irritated by it. He told me I have no common sense because I pinned outside of the load line. I didn’t even realize that was what those lines were for until today. but oh well

Also having trouble remembering exactly how they want us to place each strap when unloaded and when post tripping the truck

day ended with me on the verge of heat stroke and had to go to urgent care. I was having to sit in the cab to cool off on and off since about 9:30am. Was getting dizzy and an elevated heart rate

 

Also forgot to say. The way they’re having us load right now we are not allowed to load with number 2 position raised.

So we load 1, then disconnect the bridge, lower 2 deck and all that jazz before we can put a car on it


Then get 3 in after

 

Been at this a long time... it's not worth the risk for a few seconds of time.

 

I agree about them training you to load #2 down! All companies I am aware of want that done. Falling off and hitting their head loading 2 while up has killed many a carhauler believe it or not.

 

You can’t do anything about the heat or cold except take plenty of breaks, dress properly and stay hydrated. I learned to haul cars in February in Ft Wayne Indiana where the wind never stops blowing and while that’s nice this time of year, it sucked in February. It got much better after training when you generally are only out of the truck for an hour of so after you become a good carhauler. My first load of 7 pickups took me 7 hours by myself. Now I can load that in an hour. I generally load before the sun comes up so I normally beat the heat. I pay for it in the winter but I like starting early.

 

Yep. Today was a much better day.

I pretty much got hands on training today me and 1 other guy buy the 2nd in charge.
I did pretty good in remembering everything.
Of course he showed me better ways to put the straps.

my only 2 hiccups came at the very end. Backing up 3 units, 2 of them I drifted too far to my passenger side.
We knew it was from fatigue, we were in the blazing heat for 8 hours but still no excuse.

luckily I was able to redeem myself with the very last van I backed off.

I am looking forward to when I am on my own, being able to take more frequent breaks as needed in this heat! Don’t get me wrong he still let us take breaks but it can’t be too long.

I can see how a full 10-15 minute break in between let’s say 3 cars will give you more of the energy you need to continue to perform efficiently. Instead of little 2-3 minute breaks still standing in the sun for half of them lol.

 

Yes being on your own in the extreme temps will be much better as you will self regulate from over doing it. I generally don’t load more than one load a day now, but my occasional backhaul is usually loaded in the hottest part of the day. I make sure I eat and drink something before getting to the loading yard and I always have water and snacks to consume if my body runs out of juice. You would be surprised how much a pack of peanut butter crackers and some water helps at the end of a long day to finish the job.

 

Get a cooling towel. Yes, it'll get your shirt wet, but they do an amazing job of extending time between cool downs. There's no name ones on Amazon for cheap.